Ones to Watch: Bebe Black

London-based singer/songwriter (and all around bad ass bitch), Bebe Black is most certainly deserving of the "ONE TO WATCH" title.  Black has one of those voices that you just can't get enough of.  Blessed with versatile voice and impressive vocal range, Bebe Black could easily have had her pick of musical genres. Lucky for us, she opted for an edgy pop sound, mixing in elements of jazz, soul and rock, underscored with driving electro beats.  Vocally and production-wise, Black's latest single, "I'll Wait," recalls Sia and Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine), doing away with the heavy EDM influence heard on previous releases like the dubstep-drizzled (amped-up) Lana Del Rey-esque "Never Forget" and the PHENOMENAL "Deathwish." Taken from her forthcoming Columbia Records debut album, "I'll Wait" will be released in the UK October 27th. 

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Paloma Faith Hard at Work on Album 3; Hits the Studio with Pharrell, Raphael Saadiq, Diane Warren and Others

Still from "Just Be" video PHOTO CREDIT: Paloma Faith's Official Instagram

My adoration for soulful British chanteuse, Paloma Faith is well documented, and like many of her fans, we're left eagerly anticipating word on album #3. While we await official word on the new record, I've gone through her vast, colorful Instagram account and extensive Twitter feed and compiled some bits and bobs, including evidence of collaborations that we HOPEFULLY will hear on the new album. Keep in mind, this is all speculative. Nothing has been confirmed yet. I'm just going off of what Paloma has said through her social media channels.

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Hot Video Alert: Katy B - What Love Is Made Of

Dubstep & UK Garage QUEEN, Katy B is BACK with a killer new single, "What Love Is Made Of," due out July 7th and featuring remixes from MK, Brackles and the one and only Felix Da Housecat.  Following the release of Katy's flawless debut album, On A Mission, she's been hard at work, collaborating with Mark Ronson on a groundbreaking tune ("Anywhere In The World") created exclusively for Coca-Cola as part of their 2012 Summer Olympics campaign.  In December of last year, Katy released her free Danger EP, featuring hot collabs with Diplo, Wiley and 2013 "It Girl" and all around big deal - Jessie Ware, who's stunning tune "Aaliyah" is one of my jams right now.  While the EP was certainly a pleasant surprise, I'm beyond excited that we have an OFFICIAL single comin' out from her sophomore set.

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Kylie Minogue Drops 'Skirt'; Celebrates Her 45th With New Nom De Strip-produced Banger

PHOTO CREDIT: Roc Nation

Earlier today, everybody's favorite Aussie electro-pop queen Kylie Minogue left us, her loyal fans with a very special treat AND ON HER OWN BIRTHDAY no less.  Shortly after sharing a photo of herself with the caption, "Might be my birthday but I'm still working #studio," Queen Kylie Retweeted a Soundcloud link from DJ/Remixer/Producer Chris Lake.  Where did said link take us, you might ask? Oh just to an AMAZING new song called "Skirt." That's all!  The song, which Chris Lake debuted at opening weekend of Pacha Ibiza this past weekend was produced by Nom De Strip (AKA Chris Elliot) and co-written by The-Dream.  Listen to it BELOW THE CUT:

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Jewel Unveils 'Two Hearts Breaking' Video; Eyes Return to Dance Charts with New Remix

It always seems like the span of time between an artist's debut album and his/her first "Greatest Hits" record gets shorter and shorter with every passing year.  Sure, in many cases it's a matter of an artist leaving a record label where the label wants to give them ONE LAST GOOD SQUEEZE to milk them for all their worth, but every once and a while we get a beautiful compilation album, actually sanctioned by the artist.  In this instance, I'm talking about Grammy-nominated singer/songwriter Jewel, who recently dropped her very first disc of hits, entitled Greatest Hits (Rhino/Warner Music Group).  Yesterday, Jewel premiered the video for the album's sole new song, a beautiful mid(ish)-tempo ballad called, "Two Hearts Breaking," produced by Jay Joyce (The Wallflowers, Patty Griffin, Emmylou Harris).  Check out the GORGEOUS Mark Liddell-shot video BELOW, which was filmed in Los Angeles and premiered Tuesday on ETOnline.com.

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[Hot Video Alert] Willy Moon - My Girl

Last time I wrote about New Zealand-born/London bread throwback singer/songwriter Willy Moon, I was GUSHING about his debut single/ÜBER-catchy Apple iPod theme "Yeah Yeah."  Now, the 23 year old Kiwi-Brit is back with his follow up single, the equally good (albeit not as catchy) "My Girl."  Released March 5th, "My Girl" is the second official single taken from Moon's forthcoming debut album, Here's Willy Moon, due April 2nd on Island Records/Interscope/Cherrytree.  Check out the vintage-inspired "My Girl" clip BELOW, directed by Focus Creeps.

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Former Pussycat Doll Jessica Sutta Returns to Take The Dance Charts by Storm; New Single 'Again' Out Now

Following the break up of international pop group and Robin Antin brainchild, The Pussycat Dolls, Jessica Sutta has been forging ahead with her own pop career.  Her latest effort, a STUNNING rager of a dance pop anthem, "Again," out today on iTunes.  Premiering yesterday on Billboard.com, "Again" was produced by and features Kemal Golden - released on Citrusonic Stereophonic.  Listen to it in full on Billboard or a snippet of the track BELOW.

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Dido To Release 4th Album, Girl Who Got Away on Tuesday; Lead Single 'No Freedom' Out Now

Amidst all of the excitement surrounding the new Justin Timberlake album, I completely forgot that Dido's highly anticipated fourth record, Girl Who Got Away, was being released next Tuesday! Whoopsie!  While I admittedly wasn't too crazy about 2008's Safe Trip Home (slash I don't remember a single song from the album), this new one actually sounds like it could be more like the old school Dido I fell in love with on 1999's No Angel.  Girl Who Got Away, Dido's first album with RCA Records, is out here in America tomorrow, March 26th.

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[Hot Video Alert] Hurts - Miracle

British synthpop duo, Hurts (AKA Theo Hutchcraft & Adam Anderson) have been on my list of bands to see since the release of their STUNNING debut album, Happiness in 2010.  Unfortunately, the band has yet to really spend any time promoting their work here in America but here's hoping they do at some point!  The band recently released their sophomore album, Exile, on March 11th via Major Label/RCA.  Preceding the release of the album was the band's LUSH lead single, "Miracle," which was accompanied by a simple, yet still epic visual (which you can watch BELOW the fold).  While the song has a certain Coldplay feel to me, it's just too beautiful to ignore.  This song sounds expensive, and I like expensive things.

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[Review] Gabriella Cilmi - Sweeter In History

It's seemingly been an ETERNITY (about three years) since Australian singer/songwriter Gabriella Cilmi released her last album, but from the looks of it, new music is on the way.  Last April, Cilmi mercilessly teased us with a new song ("Vicious Love") & accompanying music video, before disappearing again. This fake out left me emotionally dead inside, once again left to cry alone in the corner with "Sweet About Me" playing on repeat.  Well, I don't know about you but I think Gabriella Cilmi is back this time for good - and with a cute new short 'do to boot!  March 26th has been announced as the release date for Cilmi's latest new song, "Sweeter In History," and while it's being offered as a free download, it certainly is a sign of good things to come.  Check out the just released music video for "Sweeter In History" BELOW.

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[Review] Polly Scattergood - Wanderlust

"Wanderlust" is the name of UK singer/songwriter Polly Scattergood's brand new single, taken from her forthcoming sophomore album, Arrows, due out this summer on Mute Records.  According to the press release;

"Written during time spent in Berlin and Norfolk, this new track combines Scattergood’s trademark mix of storytelling and soul-searching; but also looks outwards and heavenwards, spinning sonic playfulness around while stretching for new skylines."

This song is EVERYTHING to me right now. It's dark. It's moody.  It's a bit fairy-like, supernatural or ethereal even.  It's subtle, it's intense. It's a bunch of contradictions that work and make beautiful music.  If this review sounds like a bit of a ramble session, forgive me! I'm struggling to string together a coherent thought. There's just something about this song that I am entranced by...  To be perfectly honest, I think I'm just a bit enamored with the artist herself, and hopefully you will be too after listening to "Wanderlust."

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Paloma Faith Announces New UK Single; Black & Blue Out March 11th

PHOTO CREDIT: Epic Records

Oh HEY Paloma Faith. I hear you're releasing a new single? That's right, UK fans!  Paloma will release the Eg White co-written "Black & Blue," as the fourth single from her BRIT-nominated sophomore album, Fall To Grace, March 11th.  Produced by Nelle Hooper and Jake Gosling, "Black & Blue" isn't my FIRST choice for a new single, but hey! I'll take what I can get.  After releasing "Just Be" in December, I was hoping the artist and her UK label, Sony/RCA would choose something more up-tempo, like..."Blood, Sweat & Tears" perhaps? Ah well. Maybe there will be some remixes included on the digital EP. A boy can dream!

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Giveaway Alert: Paloma Faith - Fall To Grace

Paloma Faith - a name even the most CASUAL reader of Music Is My King Size Bed should know by now.  As you probably know, Paloma released her sophomore album, Fall To Grace in America on December 4th through her U.S. label, Epic Records.  To commemorate the album's release I have been afforded the opportunity to give away 5 copies to give away to U.S. fans of the feisty outspoken red headed chanteuse.  TO ENTER, please do one of the following:

1. Leave me a COMMENT here on the blog, naming your favorite Paloma Faith song and email address
2. Email me at foolfourmusic [AT] gmail [DOT] com
3. Follow me on TWITTER (fool_4_music) and send me a tweet with your favorite Paloma song, using hash tag #PalomaFaithGiveaway
4. The contest ends JANUARY 6th, 2013 at 5:00 PM EST

That's it! 5 lucky U.S.-based winners will win a free copy of Fall To Grace.  Easy, right?  Just in time for Christmas!

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[Hot Video Alert] Rihanna - Diamonds

Back around Thanksgiving I prepared my blog for a bunch of Hot Video Alert posts that would go up BOOM BOOM BOOM but, the craziness of the holiday PLUS the fact that I was about to start a new job in the city, I never got around to it.  So...let's try this again.  First up, Rihanna's STUNNING video for her single "Diamonds," taken from Unapologetic, the Barbadian beauty's seventh studio album.

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[Hot Video Alert] Willy Moon - Yeah Yeah

It's been a while since Apple has had an ad on TV with a song that just stops you in your tracks, but it looks like they've done it again with their 2012 iPod collection campaign featuring "Yeah Yeah" by New Zealand-born/London-based singer/songwriter and producer Willy Moon.  Back in the day it seemed like every single Apple TV spot contained an edgy, little known or at least non-mainstream artist, artists like Feist ("1234"), Yael Naïm ("New Soul"), The Ting Tings ("Shut Up and Let Me Go"), Chairlift ("Bruises"), The Asteroids Galaxy Tour ("Around The Bend") all come to mind.  Hell, THIS blog's name was even inspired by a song featured in an Apple advert: CSS - "Music Is My Hot Hot Sex."  Today, while Apple advertising might not be as innovative as it was a few years back, every once and a while they introduce us to something or someone pretty cool and unique and right now, Willy Moon is that something or someone for me.

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Paloma Faith Unveils New 'Just Be' Remix by Shy FX and B. Traits; Single out December 16th

As previously mentioned UK pop chanteuse Paloma Faith's next single, "Just Be" will be released December 16th, shortly before she kicks off her 2013 UK/Ireland Tour on January 20th in Belfast. In my last post, I was also buzzing about a new remix by London based drum & bass DJ/producer Shy FX.  Paloma had announced in one of her U.S. tour videos that she was recording new vocals for the mix while in Washington D.C.  Well...that remix has now made it's way online and you guys can listen to it right here: Just Be (Shy FX & B. Traits Mix)!  

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[Hot Video Alert] Melanie Amaro - Don't Fail Me Now

Melanie Amaro, winner of the very first U.S. X-Factor competition sure has been taking her sweet time with her debut album. She released her debut single, the incredibly catchy, auto-tuned-to-death dance/pop jam "Don't Fail Me Now" back in September, followed by the more R&B "Love Me Now," both of which saw some success on a couple of different charts here in America. Nearly a month later, the music video for "Don't Fail Me Now" debuted on Melanie's VEVO page. Now I appreciate the fact that her label (Epic Records/Syco Music) don't want to rush anything, but come on! At least put out another single for us to chew on while we wait?

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[Hot Video Alert] Rita Ora - Shina Ya Light

Released November 5th on Roc Nation/Columbia Records, "Shine Ya Light" is the third single released by English pop/R&B star Rita Ora.  The Emil Nava-directed video sees Rita proudly taking to the streets of her native Kosovo, serving up all sorts of attitude.  While I still don't consider myself a FAN, Rita Ora is definitely growing on me.  For me, her sound lacks originality at the moment.  "Shine Ya Light" in particular sounds a bit too similar to something Barbadian dance/pop queen Rihanna might have put out a couple of years ago but she's definitely got the chops to carve out her own niche.  We'll have to see what happens, I guess.

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Paloma Faith Releases Revealing New Video; Announced as VEVO LIFT Artist to Watch

In the Emil Nava-directed video for Paloma Faith's new single, the flawless ballad "Just Be," the talented twenty-something literally bares it all.  Released this morning, the all black & white video features a vulnerable, stripped down Paloma Faith, sitting in the middle of a wood floor in a vacant loft space somewhere in New York City.  Completely naked, hugging her body tightly Faith lays it all out there; singing about true and everlasting love in this love song for REAL lovers.  Interspersed throughout the video are clips of the starlet walking around New York City with a GORGEOUS male model on her arm, as well as some more intimate moments.  All in all, an absolutely stunning clip for an absolutely stunning song.  "Just Be," penned by Faith alongside Greg Wells and Matt Hales with production by Nelle Hooper and Jake Gosling, is due out December 16th as the fourth single from Faith's sophomore album, Fall To Grace, following the release of her GORGEOUS INXS cover of "Never Tear Us Apart," featured on the album's October re-release.

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[Hot Video Alert] Zoë Badwi - Shoot Me Down

Australian club queen, and one of my 'Ones to Watch,' Zoë Badwi stealthily released her latest single, "Shoot Me Down" back on September 28th via Neon Records/Warner Music Australia.  Written in LA with Frankie-E, the single is the first off of Zoë's as of yet untitled sophomore record.  The song sees Badwi continuing on in the high energy dance direction that first gained her attention back in 2008 with the release of the international SMASH "Release Me."  In the grimy looking, Sydney-shot video, Zoë gets down and dirty with a troop of attractive dancers in a variety of dimly lit shipping containers.  Writhing atop a mass of horny-looking, scantily clad young girls and boys, Badwi really turns up the heat.

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